After Delhi Rape, Women Turn to Martial Arts

Women at a self-defense workshop initiated by the women’s wing of the Delhi police, New Delhi, Jan. 17.

Arko Chatterjee, a 14-year-old national karate champion, has, for over six years, urged his elder sister to sign up for martial arts classes. But his 17-year-old sister routinely turned down his requests, dismissing martial arts as a sport “too manly” for her liking, he said.

Last month, however, Sneha Chatterjee finally set foot in her first ever martial arts class: a month-long self defense program. The brutal gang rape of a young woman in New Delhi on Dec. 16, she said, pushed her to enroll for the course.

“I was terrified,”said Ms. Chatterjee, a high school science student.“What if it was me?”

Sneha Chatterjee

Sneha, left, practicing with her brother Arko, right.

That fear has echoed in the minds of thousands of women in the capital. Martial arts trainers say the gruesome gang rape, which prompted nationwide outcry over the safety of women in India, has led to a surge in women signing up for self-defense courses in New Delhi.

Bharat Sharma, the secretary of New Delhi-based All India Karate-Do Federation, a martial arts association, estimates at least 500 women in the capital have enrolled for self-defense classes since the crime. Usually, the association registers perhaps 25 new students a month, he said.

His approximation is based on figures from over two dozen martial arts academies affiliated with the association.“It’s phenomenal, really,” said Mr. Sharma, who is also a martial arts consultant for India’s National Security Guard, a federal antiterrorism force. “We’ve never seen such response before,” he adds.

At his academy in the capital’s southwest neighborhood of Dwarka, Mr. Gupta imparts techniques on how women can escape the clutches of an attacker, incapacitate assailants with punches and kicks, as well as tips to sharpen individual reflexes.

Since the incident, about 50 women — from housewives to working mothers — have registered for his academy’s self-defense course. Prior to the widely publicized crime he got less than 10 new students a month, he said. Mr. Gupta’s academy offers a choice of a one-month or three-month-long self defense course.

Rajan Jha

Ms. Jha, a mother to two boys, signed up for self defense classes this month. Her older son, aged six, joined karate classes last year.

Rajan Jha, who earlier this month enrolled as a student for the one-month program, said she is finding Mr. Gupta’s classes helpful. The 31-year-old, a mother to two boys, claims she can now disarm an opponent by locking his elbow and launch an attack targeting pressure points in the body.

A week after Ms. Jha registered for the classes, several housewives in her neighborhood, too, signed up, she said.

In recent weeks, India Inc. has also spearheaded self-defense programs and training workshops for their workforce. A recent survey by ASSOCHAM, a leading trade body, for instance, found one in every three women surveyed in New Delhi-based information technology firms, had either reduced working hours or quit their jobs.

Companies, particularly those with long working hours, are worried, said Rajesh Dhahiwal, the director of Trident Tactical Solutions Ltd., a firm that organizes self-defense workshops.

Mr. Dhahiwal, who last week held self-defense workshops for women employees of New Delhi-based hospitality group Jaypee Hotels, says conglomerates like Tata DOCOMO and Reliance Group, have also approached his team to conduct workshop in their respective offices based out of the capital. At the workshops, Mr. Dhahiwal imparts basic tips on body language and reflexes, which are being well-received by women.

In newspaper advertisements released by the Delhi Police last Thursday, the police force announced plans to organize additional self-defense workshops for women, among other initiatives, in the capital. The women’s wing of the Delhi police last week kicked off self-defense training for girls in state-run schools and colleges, said a Delhi police spokesman.

“We’re doing everything we can to ensure women roam the capital’s streets without fear,” Rajan Bhagat, the spokesman, said.

The self-defence movement has spread beyond Delhi as well. In the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, for instance, the government last week launched self-defense programs for girls in state-run schools. The state reported the highest number of rapes in India in 2011.

In a similar move, the state-run Punjab University recently announced it would initiate martial arts classes for women residing on campus. The move followed the gang rape of a 29-year-old woman in the northern state last week, which fuelled mounting concerns over the safety of women in India.

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